Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
N o one was home when Archer got back from work the following Wednesday. Olive had been feeling much better and returned to school this week, and he wondered where she and Iris were. Sometimes Iris took her to the bookstore or the pool to practice her swimming, but she usually texted Archer about where they would be.
He dropped his stuff by the door and made his way into the kitchen when he heard Olive’s now familiar giggle from the backyard. It still made his heart swoop in his chest to hear it.
When he walked out into the yard, Olive jumped up from her seat on the ground.
‘Surprise!’ she yelled, leaping into his arms.
‘Wow! What is all this?’ he asked.
‘A picnic!’ Olive squirmed out of his arms as quickly as she’d flung herself into them and led him to the blanket set up in the center of the lawn. After a month of rain, the sun had finally graced them with its presence and the grass was a deep green in the late afternoon sunshine. Everything smelled fresh and new. Whoever had rented the house before them had apparently planted perennials and the yard was lined with flowers, first daffodils and now tulips. They even had a cluster of irises along the fence.
The beautifully human Iris sat smiling up at him.
‘Welcome home,’ she said. And it felt true. It felt like home when he was here with the two of them. What a wild thought coming from the man who not even two months ago had to stand on the front step giving himself pep talks before he went in.
‘Iris said it was the perfect day for a picnic because it’s the first really warm day of spring and she found local strawberries at the market and we made strawberry shortcakes!’
‘Wow,’ Archer said with a laugh trying to absorb all the information Olive had just unloaded as she danced around the blanket.
‘Yep. We cooked for you today, chef,’ Iris said with a wink and thank God Olive was here because his desire to lean Iris back on this blanket and kiss her everywhere was very strong today. She smirked at him like she knew.
‘Well, this all looks delicious.’ He couldn’t help it if his gaze wandered from the picnic feast to Iris’s long legs and soft curves. An equally delicious blush worked its way up her neck. He rarely saw Iris in anything other than her PJs or her work uniform of yoga pants and a tank top.
But today, on this gorgeous sunny May day, Iris was wearing a navy blue dress with strawberries and white polka dots. Slender straps grazed her shoulders, and her hair was wrapped in a bun on top of her head, exposing the long line of her neck. The rose-gold strands of her hair glinted in the sunlight.
She looked positively edible.
But his daughter was here, and she was so excited to show him what she had made, and Archer was thankful for the distraction because he could no longer be trusted to make good and responsible decisions around Iris Fraser. He probably never could.
‘Are you going to tell me how you made it?’ he asked, taking one of the plates of strawberry shortcake. The plate was white and dainty and covered in little blue flowers. Archer wondered where they’d come from.
‘Iris said not to tell you.’
‘Oh really. Why is that?’
Iris rolled her eyes. ‘Because you’re going to get all chef-y on us and belittle our efforts.’
‘I would never! And these look delicious.’ There were plenty of ways to make strawberry shortcake, but they’d gone the traditional New England route: sweet biscuits layered with whipped cream and juicy strawberries. He cut his fork through and got the perfect bite, equal parts biscuit, fruit and cream.
He widened his eyes for full dramatic effect. ‘Liv, these are amazing.’ He’d taken to shortening her name and it felt good. It felt like they were becoming a real family.
His daughter beamed. ‘They are?!’
‘Oh, yeah. You did a good job.’
‘Well, Iris helped with the oven part.’
‘Just doing my duty as the sous chef,’ Iris said with a grin.
‘So, you’re really not going to tell me your secret?’ he asked.
Olive glanced at Iris and Iris shrugged. ‘I guess you can tell him. There’s enough secret recipes in his life already.’
Archer chuckled. ‘Thanks for taking pity on me.’
Olive leaned in closer. ‘We used a mix for the biscuits and whipped cream in a can.’
Archer leaned in and whispered back. ‘Well, it tastes better than my strawberry shortcake.’
‘Really?’
‘Yep.’ He planted a kiss on Olive’s nose. ‘Good job, chef.’
He didn’t think it was possible for Olive to smile any bigger, but somehow she was doing it. And when he glanced at Iris, she was smiling at him, too. That soft smile she only did when she thought he wasn’t looking. His favorite smile. The one that wasn’t playful or mischievous. The one that he thought, hoped , showed her real feelings.
She looked away. ‘Wow, Olive. Now I’m dying to try one.’
With that, they all dug into their cakes and washed them down with pink lemonade in delicate teacups. Archer complimented Olive’s dress and the whole picnic-surprise idea, and she told him about her day, with Iris popping in to fill in pertinent details, and the sun warmed the earth beneath them and the flowers bloomed and the birds chirped and Archer once again felt his life flip upside down.
Because he liked this.
He liked coming home early. He liked talking to Olive. He liked having a picnic in the damn sunshine. He liked it a hell of a lot more than striving and pushing toward some unachievable career goal. This day, this life, felt like a different type of achievement. The type that only required his presence not his perfection.
And he really liked Iris sitting next to him. He liked that by the time the sun was getting lower and the air chillier that her body leaned against his. He wanted to pull her closer, to tuck her under his arm. He wanted to put Olive to bed together and talk about their day.
The man who had once only thought about his goals. About being the best. About perfection. About himself. Now just wanted a sunny afternoon picnic with his favorite girls.
How was that for a surprise?
* * *
‘Okay, good. Now we’re going to practice putting your face in the water,’ Iris said, gesturing at the pool. Archer had left work early to rush over to the Y to catch some of Olive’s swimming lesson with Iris. The girls hadn’t noticed him yet, though. They were the only two in the pool and Iris’s voice echoed in the big space.
Olive looked at Iris like she had lost her mind. ‘I don’t want to.’
‘Trust me, it’s important.’
‘No, it’s not. I can swim with my face up like this, see.’ Olive doggie-paddled around the shallow end with her little face above the water and Archer had to stifle his laugh.
‘That’s nice, but what if you want to jump in?’
‘Then you’ll catch me.’
Olive’s blind trust in Iris made his heart swell.
‘What if you want to jump in by yourself?’
Olive shook her head. ‘I don’t want to.’
‘I think you should at least try…’ Iris trailed off as she glanced up and caught Archer lingering by the door.
‘Hey.’ He raised his hand in a sheepish wave. ‘I hope it’s okay I came. I left a little early so I could see some of Olive’s lesson.’
He left work early. That was a monumental statement from him and judging by the look on Iris’s face she thought so, too. But everything had slid into place over the last few weeks. He was all in with Olive. This was right and he knew it now. He wanted to be a dad. He wanted this life.
‘Of course it’s okay,’ Iris said, still studying him with a mildly surprised look on her face. Olive scrambled up the steps to greet him.
‘Hey, Liv.’
She hugged him around his legs, completely soaking his pants with her wet body.
‘You came to see me swim?’ she asked, gazing up at him so adoringly that Archer was sure Iris was right about his face turning soft and gooey when he looked at his kid. He was basically a human puddle at this point.
‘Yeah, let me see what you’ve learned,’ he said, detaching her arms from his knees.
‘Okay. But Iris has to catch me,’ she said, coming to the edge of the pool and lining her toes up on the edge.
Iris came closer, her body rising out of the water in the waist-deep shallow end, and Archer was afraid he might have to excuse himself from the rest of the lesson. She was gorgeous. Of course she was. She always was. But she was in a bathing suit and his body was completely ignoring the fact that he should not be noticing that right now.
His gaze snagged on her bare arms, the curve of her breast in that utilitarian swimsuit that was sexy as hell, simply because she was the one wearing it. He lingered over the sight of her until she cleared her throat and his attention snapped back to Olive. Right. Not the time or the place for that. He tried to discreetly adjust his pants, but Iris caught him, a knowing smirk on her plush lips.
She shook her head at him and turned back to Olive. ‘Okay, Olive. One … two … three…’
The little girl launched herself in the air and Iris caught her, not letting her head dip below the water. Archer’s breath caught as she landed in the pool, but he trusted Iris, too. Completely. He knew she would keep Olive safe.
‘Did you see that?’ Olive called as she doggie-paddled back to the stairs.
‘I did. That was amazing!’
‘I’m gonna do it again.’
She jumped over and over, and each time Iris caught her and Archer cheered, and it felt like maybe Olive was going to be okay, maybe they’d mended something in her little heart.
‘Hey, Liv. I think you’re ready to put your face under,’ he said, crouching down at the edge of the pool.
She crinkled her nose. ‘I don’t think so.’
‘You can do it,’ Iris told her. ‘And I’m right here. I’ll scoop you right up if you need me.’
‘And I’ll scoop you both up if you need me,’ Archer said, catching the smile Iris tried to hide.
Olive looked between the two of them, and Archer could feel the shift, the moment Olive realized that maybe she trusted them too.
‘Okay,’ she said, slowly. ‘But you have to stay right there.’ She pointed to the edge of the pool.
‘I won’t move, even if you do a giant splash and get me all wet,’ Archer assured her.
‘Oh, that’s a good idea,’ Iris said. ‘Let’s see if you can splash your dad.’
Olive’s face lit up with mischief at that idea.
Forgoing the countdown, she launched herself into the water before Archer could stand back up and completely soaked him.
She burst out of the water with a triumphant smile on her face. ‘Did I get you?!’
Archer shook the water from his hair. ‘You sure did.’
‘Yay! I’m gonna do it again.’
‘Wonderful,’ Archer grumbled, but Iris caught his eye, a huge smile on her face to match Olive’s and the whole thing was totally worth the wet clothes.
After their lesson was done, the girls changed into dry clothes and met Archer in the lobby.
‘I’m really glad I came,’ he said, nudging Iris’s shoulder as they walked out to the car. ‘You’re a great teacher.’
‘Well, you provided great motivation,’ she said with a laugh.
‘Will you come next time, Dad?’ Olive asked, grabbing his hand as they walked out into the parking lot.
Dad.
She was holding his hand.
She wanted him to come to the next lesson.
How could he possibly say no?
Not to mention he’d be a fool to pass up the chance to see Iris in a bathing suit again.